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Where does the time go?

With a title like that you might think I am about to launch into a sentimental post, but no this blog boils down to two buttons:

It all started many hours ago when I got the notion that I might like to create a custom configuration button for my Mac app. I had hoped it would be a quick task but now I see it’s 9PM and my day is almost done. I feel a little cheated by time, but the truth is, I have been programming in Swift a lot lately and my brain needed a creative break from enums, optionals and NSUserDefaults.

I am still pretty much a newbie when it comes to vector art. I know the benefits of using vector over raster images but creating vector art has always felt unnatural. With raster you can just lay down the brush and go but working with vectors always felt more mathematical, like trying to create art using protractors, rulers and compasses. However, that idea was challenged when I started using Clip Studio Paint (also known as Manga Studios) last year. Vector software has gotten more sophisticated and the process isn’t so different anymore than using traditional paint programs.

This afternoon I decided to give Affinity Designer a go. It’s a program I purchased a while back after a brief foray into iDraw (now Autodesk Graphic). I can’t criticize iDraw too much because I have created a few neat images using it. At the time I was looking for a cheap alternative to Adobe Illustrator and iDraw certainly fit the bill. Affinity is one of those programs I have been meaning to dive into but haven’t for some reason. Maybe the interface was a little intimidating or perhaps iDraw was just more familiar, but that changed this afternoon when I started playing around with all of the neat shape effects in Affinity. It is an amazing program and a good part of my lost time can be credited to hours of exploration and experimentation.

Well, I hope you like my configuration buttons. Personally, I like them better than the overused NSAdvance button. I had a lot of fun creating them.